Sec. 54-110. Municipal elections activity—Limitations on municipal officers and elected officials.
(a) Neither the city nor any city agency, city department, city board, city division, city bureau, or city commission shall use any public moneys from any source to make any contribution in campaigns involving the nomination, retention, election, or recall of any person to any public office, nor shall any such entity use any public moneys from any source to make any contribution or donation to any other person for the purpose of making any independent expenditure or any electioneering communication, nor shall any such entity expend any public moneys from any source to urge electors to vote in favor of or against any:
(1) Municipal ballot issue or ballot question that has been submitted and has had a title fixed;
(2) Referred measure; or
(3) Measure for the recall of any elected officer, upon the final determination of sufficiency.
(b) However, the city as well as any city agency, city department, city board, city division, city bureau, or city commission may respond to questions about any such issue described in subsection (a) of this section if the member, employee, or public entity has not solicited the question. A member or employee of any such agency, department, board, division, bureau, commission, or the city council who has policy-making responsibilities may expend not more than $50.00 of public moneys in the form of letters, telephone calls, or other activities incidental to expressing his or her opinion on any such issue described in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed as prohibiting the city or any city agency, city department, city board, city division, city bureau, or city commission from expending public moneys or making contributions to dispense a factual summary, which shall include arguments both for and against the proposal, on any issue of official concern before the electorate in the city. Such summary shall not contain a conclusion or opinion in favor of or against any particular issue. As used herein, an issue of official concern shall be limited to issues that will appear on a municipal election ballot.
(d) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed to prevent an elected official from expressing a personal opinion on any issue.
(e) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed as prohibiting the city or any city agency, city department, city board, city division, city bureau, or city commission from:
(1) Passing a resolution or taking a position of advocacy on any issue described in subsection (a)of this section; or
(2) Reporting the passage of or distributing such resolution through established, customary means, other than paid advertising, by which information about other proceedings of such city agency, department, board, division, bureau, commission, or council thereof is regularly provided to the public.
(f) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed as prohibiting a member of the city council, any elected or appointed city official, or any employee of the city or city agency, city department, city board, city division, city bureau, or city commission from expending one's personal funds, making contributions or donations from one's personal funds, or using personal time to urge electors to vote in favor of or against any candidate or any issue described in subsection (a) of this section.
(g) Any violation of this section shall be subject to the sanctions authorized in section 54-108. (Ord. No. 2021-35, § 6, 9-27-2021)